Funding for Alaska Projects Included in Omnibus Appropriations Package

Published: December 9, 2009

WASHINGTON, D.C. – A joint Senate and House Appropriations Conference Committee has approved a $446.8 billion catch-all funding bill that contains money for a number of important Alaska projects, including Pacific salmon recovery, Denali Commission health facilities and a number of military construction projects, according to U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, a committee member. The committee’s action late Tuesday sends the bill back to both chambers for a vote on final passage.

In recent years, when Congress has been unable to pass all of its appropriations bills by year’s end, it combines some or all of the outstanding measures into a catch-all funding package called an omnibus. The omnibus package approved Tuesday combines the following six appropriations bills: Commerce, Justice and Science; Financial Services and General Government; Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education; Military Construction and Veterans Affairs; State and Foreign Operations; and Transportation, Housing and Urban Development. Congress is expected to pass its final funding measure of the year, the Defense Appropriations bill, following passage of the six-bill omnibus.

The omnibus conference report includes funding for the following Alaska items:

From the Commerce, Justice and Science Appropriations Bill:

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration:

· Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund - $80 million

· U.S./Canada Yukon River Salmon Agreement Studies - $500,000

· Indigenous Peoples Council for Marine Mammals for research - $500,000